Arsenal left ruing VAR controversy in Atletico Madrid draw - 6 talking points

ATLETICO MADRID 1-1 ARSENAL: A tale of two penalties given and one that was overturned resulted in Mikel Arteta's side coming away from the Spanish capital with a draw

Arsenal were left ruing an overturned penalty as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. Viktor Gyokeres put the Gunners in front just before half-time but his goal was soon cancelled out by Julian Alvarez in the second period.

Unlikely to compete with Tuesday's nine-goal thriller in France between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, there was still plenty of drama at a deafeningly loud Metropolitano. Arsenal thought that they'd won the third penalty of the game late on, but referee Danny Makkelie changed his decision after a VAR review.

In the end, neither side could find a way through the other's resolute defence from open play. It'll all be to play for when the teams meet again next Tuesday in North London.

Here are six talking points from the Metropolitano.

WORLD CUP LEGENDS: The stars who lit up football's greatest tournament - Buy the Special Edition today

1. Turf wars

A bizarre piece of news cropped up before kick-off. Like Barcelona had done ahead of the quarter-finals, Arsenal demanded that UEFA measure the length of Atletico's grass.

For context, Barca weren't happy with the quality of the pitch when they faced Atletico earlier this year and were suspicious of the grass before their quarter-final second leg last month. But Arsenal were left red-card when the measurement came in at 26millimetres, perfectly between UEFA's margin of 21mm and 30mm.

Who'll reach the final? Give us your prediction in the comments section.

2. Arteta's tactical tweak

It's not often that Arteta has had his first-choice midfield available this season, but now the trio of Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi are fit for the run-in. They didn't line up their usual shape, though.

Arteta's tactical tweak was best seen on goal kicks. Rice was positioned the base of midfield with Odegaard alongside him while Zubimendi was the highest of the three.

It was no surprise, then, that most of Arsenal's attacks came from wide areas. Noni Madueke went close with a long-range effort before Gyokeres broke the deadlock.

3.Gyokeres shows Atletico what they're missing

Did you know? Andrea Berta, Arsenal's current sporting director, tried to sign Gyokeres while he was in charge of Atletico's recruitment between 2017 and 2025.

So when the Gunners' £64million signing drew a clumsy challenge from David Hancko and dispatched the resulting penalty - too powerful for Jan Oblak - Berta will've been feeling rather pleased with himself. The jury is still very much out on Gyokeres, but it was good centre-forward play to give Arsenal a precious lead at the break.

4. White lends Atletico a hand

Atletico's intent quickly paid off at the start of the second half. After Marcos Llorente tried a volley from the edge of the box - which was going well wide of goal - the ball struck White's arm and up went the appeals from Los Rojiblancos.

Referee Makkelie was soon ordered to go to the VAR monitor and didn't need too long to make a decision. Alvarez put the ball down on the penalty shot and outdid Gyokeres' thumping finish. David Raya didn't even move, as the ball rifled into his top right-hand corner.

5. Fulham in mind?

It was a curious reaction to conceding by Arteta. Within 12 minutes of Arsenal's lead being wiped away, the Gunners boss made four substitutions.

Was Saturday's game at home to Fulham the reason for bringing the likes of Odegaard and Gyokeres off? Bukayo Saka entered the fray, still yet to start since picking up injury in March.

6. Arsenal controversially denied late penalty

After they equalised, Atletico looked the more likely to score. But Arsenal's fresh legs made an impact, particularly those of Eberechi Eze.

The midfielder became the second Gunners player to draw a foul from Hancko in the box and Makkelie pointed to the spot for the third time on the night. Once again, though VAR wanted a say.

After review, the Dutch official deemed there to be insufficient contact from the Atletico man, so the decision was overturned, much to the delight of the animated Diego Simeone.